This Shit Is Weird: An Inquisitor's Story
by Aurason
Summary: The events leading up to the Breach are the same as they naturally are. The Temple of Sacred Ashes is destroyed, the Divine is dead. But a young man from our world finds himself there, his left hand crackling with green energy. Can he save this world? Will he find out how to return to his own?
1. Chapter 1

It had been a normal day, right up until I found myself right where I shouldn't be. I'd been in my house, taking some spare time to look through theories and speculations regarding the next game in a series called Dragon Age. Due to my personal funds, I'd only gotten the chance to play the most recent installment, Inquisition, but I'd become so enthralled that I had to learn more about the world these developers had carefully sculpted. Looking through the most recent posts, I saw it was more of the same: speculating on how Solas will fit into everything, wondering whether or not we'll really get to explore the Tevinter Imperium, debating how our choices will reflect into the world as time goes on, the kind of discussions that I adore getting to speak up about.

I was in the middle of making a post regarding the choice for who becomes Divine when I noticed a download had begun. I don't remember doing that, so why was it there? Just as I was about to cancel the download however, it had finished, and my computer promptly shut off, much to my annoyance.

"Oh my- really?!" I sighed, feeling a headache creep near the back of my skull. I tried moving the mouse, pressing keys, before noticing that it had turned itself off.

"Well, that's… weird. Still annoying, just… huh." Confused, I pressed the power button, hoping that whatever virus had downloaded was just to inconvenience me for a moment.

Everything was going great right until I entered my password. The second I pressed enter, I heard this ominous sound, that sounded oddly like whispers. Then the screen cracked, and all I saw was a blinding, green light.

* * *

I don't know how long I was unconscious. Once I looked around at my surroundings, I don't think it would have applied, anyways. The second I saw the guards in armor surrounding me, and the two familiar figures approaching me, I knew exactly where I was, and exactly how impossible it should be.

I was in the cells of Haven, being approached by the Left and Right Hands of the Divine. And they had questions I wasn't sure I could answer.

(A small start, I admit, but mainly because I wanted this to serve as a slight prologue to the events that take place in the game. I'm not entirely sure how I'll do with this, but here's hoping!)


	2. Chapter 2

As Cassandra and Leliana approached me, I tried to make sense of what was happening around me. The last think I remember was a flash of light before I woke up here. Maybe I'm still asleep, and this is all a dream. I'll wake up, and I'll be back in my house, right?

Cassandra walked behind me and leaned forward to whisper in my ear, just like she does in the first cutscene with her.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now." She scowled getting up and moving to face me, "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for _you._ "

A moment passed, before I remembered that a dialogue wheel wasn't there to guide me through the conversation.

"And you think that whatever happened at... the Conclave, is because of me?" I nervously whispered. I'd went through this song and dance plenty of times, sure, but that doesn't mean I'm not still intimidated by the Seeker.

She grabbed my left hand, raising it up and making the shackles on my wrist clank together, "Explain _this._ "

It was then that I felt a burning pain in my left palm, amplifying until a crackling green energy was emanating from it. I gasped from the feeling, fighting back tears. Is this what the player character had to go through?!

"I... I don't really think I can." I lied. I had a pretty good idea of how I got the Anchor, but I don't think explaining exactly _how_ I knew would make sense to them.

"What do you mean?!" Cassandra shouted, obviously not satisfied.

"I-I don't know how this thing got onto my hand, I swear!"

Cassandra stared me dead in the eyes, before gripping both of my shoulders violently, earning a more than startled yelp from me, "You're _lying_!"

Before I had to endure any intimidation tactics from the Seeker, Leliana grabbed her by the arm and moved her further away.

"We need him, Cassandra." She said, turning back to face me now that Cassandra was at the doorway.

I shook my head, starting to freak out. This wasn't a dream. I felt the pain from the Anchor, the shock and fear from Cassandra. I was really here, in Haven.

"This can't be happening, why is this happening?! I was home one second, here the next! Why is this happening?!"

That had caught Leliana's attention. "So you don't remember what happened? How this began?"

I considered telling them everything, before realizing that might incriminate me more than saying I don't know what happened. So instead, I'll just echo what the characters said.

"I-I really don't. I mean, I guess I remember running from these c-creepy things, and then... a woman?"

"A woman?" Leliana said. Looking at her now, I knew that was her hoping that the Divine is still alive. I felt a pang of guilt for saying that now, but I'd already said it. I have to commit to it now.

"I think she reached out to me, but then..." I looked down and shut my eyes, pretending that I was searching for the memory in my head.

Cassandra approached, likely just as confused as I was, admittedly for different reasons.

"Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take him to the rift."

Leliana nodded, and walked away. As Cassandra knelt down to undo the chains that kept me on the ground, I spoke.

"It's bad out there, isn't it?" It came out as a question, but I knew just how bad things were, and how much worse they were likely to get.

She paused, before echoing her scripted line. "It... would be easier to just show you."

* * *

As we walked through the doors, I looked up and saw it. Playing the game I'd always look at it and admire how much detail must have gone into it. Seeing it now, I felt a lump form in my throat, knowing what I had to do, what this would lead to. I stared at it for a moment, before realizing that Cassandra had been speaking. I turned to respond, before feeling the pain in my hand again, stronger than last time, the energy from the Anchor crackling violently around my arm. I doubled over, gasping for breath. Cassandra knelt down, so that we were both at eye level with each other.

"Each time the Breach expands, your Mark spreads... and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."

"I..." I paused, thinking about my life before this. I know I'm going to help no matter what, but a large part of me wonders how I got here in the first place. If I help close the Breach, maybe I can find out how I got into this mess. "Alright. I'll help you stop this thing, in w-whatever I can."

Cassandra says nothing, but it's clear she didn't expect me to go along with this. She grabs the back of my t-shirt, and led me through Haven. Everywhere I looked, people stared back at me, scowling.

"They have decided your guilt. They _need_ it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together. Now, they are dead. We lash out like the sky, but we must think beyond ourselves. As she did. Until the Breach is sealed."

That confirms that the events leading up to this are more of the same. A dead Divine, the Breach looming over everyone, the Anchor threatening to kill me. Except this time it actually _is_ me, not the Dalish Elf I usually played as.

"There will be a trial. I can promise no more." She said, cutting the rope that kept my hands bound together.

"I... alright. Considering the mess we're in, that's all I can ask for, right now."

She gave me another surprised look, then shook her head.

"I... suppose I should ask you, what is your name?"

Her asking that caught me off guard. "You don't know my name?" I blurted out.

Cassandra gave me a look, before saying, "Leliana's people are still looking into who you are. I suppose I could wait and ask them, but I'd prefer it if you told me."

Oh. Now that I think about it, that does make much more sense. I'm not looking forward to things once Leliana's people can't find anything on me, though. I'm going to have to keep the more modernized parts of my life a secret unless I want to look like a maniac.

"My name is Garrius. Garrius Tawn." I told her. At least my name sounds somewhat age appropriate.

"Then come, Garrius. We should get to the forward camp, quickly."

It was then that we heard an ear shattering **_BOOM_** in the distance. Exactly where we were supposed to be going.

(Alright, that's a lot better than the previous chapter. I know that this chapter is still really similar to the actual story, but the next chapter will be aimed towards resolving that issue.)


	3. Chapter 3

Cassandra had grabbed me by the arm and run towards the noise. Once we arrived at the bridge, I was shocked for a moment to see that it was already destroyed. Then it dawned on me that nothing was really restricted to my own pace in this world. If I wasted too much time, if I wasn't fast enough, what could happen to me? What could happen to everyone?

My thoughts were interrupted when Cassandra said, "We'll have to scale down and find another way. Follow me."

And with that, she climbed down the shattered remains of the bridge. For a split second I thought about running, but I dismissed it. Even if I did get away, I know what the Breach can do. I'm not sure if I can actually die here, but I'd rather not take any chances. So, I shakily climbed down with Cassandra, hoping that maybe I could find a way back home once I got back to Haven.

Once we were standing on the frozen waters, the rubble from the destroyed bridge burning around us, Cassandra took a moment to look around, then pointed towards the path opposite of us.

"There! If we go this way, we can reach the others before-"

Before she could finish, something crashed through one of the snow banks, before landing a few feet away. A wave of fear washed over me once I realized what was about to happen.

A shade demon rose from the crash site, letting out a malformed hiss before slithering towards us.

Cassandra unsheathed her sword, raising her shield to defend herself.

"Stay behind me!" She shouted, before charging towards the shade demon.

I'd have been more than happy to, but I looked down towards my feet, and saw a familiar black, bubbling puddle, growing more and more frantic as time passed. I looked at the crate behind me and rushed towards it, hoping to find something, anything I could defend myself with.

Opening the crate, my heart sunk when I saw that the only thing there was a staff, a weapon only mages could properly use. Normally I would have been ecstatic to have it, but I didn't even know if I could use magic, since I wasn't even from here. Hearing the bubbling mass behind me hiss, however, I took hold of it and turned to face the shade.

It was slithering towards me now, claws sharp. I looked to both sides of it, knowing that whichever way I moved, I wouldn't get out of the way in time. I tried moving the staff like I remembered to cast a spell, but to my dismay nothing happened. The shade raised it's claws to strike, so I did the last think I could think of doing.

Gripping the staff with both hands, I swung it so that the tip - which looked similar to a morning star - connected with the side of it's skull. Thankfully, it seemed to only take that one swing, as the shade sank back into the ground, leaving only a single tooth behind, almost human, but more fang-like. I picked it up and placed it in my pocket, wondering if I could submit this to the research table back in Haven later.

By now Cassandra had already finished off the demon she was facing, and had turned around to see my likely unorthodox way of using a mage staff. I waited for her to aim her sword at me and tell me to disarm, like she always does. Instead, she sheathes her weapon and looks at me.

"You don't know how to fight, do you?" She asked.

"I... how do you know?" I asked, surprised that she didn't just demand I put the staff down.

"You're using a staff, but not casting any spells. And the way you swung it was clumsy, so you've likely never used a sword of any kind at all. Have you ever fought at all?"

"Not... not really, no. The closest I ever got to a fight was when I was a kid, come to think of it."

Cassandra paused for a moment, likely deep in thought, before saying, "Hold onto the staff, for now. I'll try to protect you, but it would be easier if you had some means of defending yourself."

I nodded, and Cassandra and I moved forward, making our way towards where the others were.

* * *

The rest of the journey consisted of Cassandra doing her best to make sure I didn't die, and me swinging the staff desperately at anything that got past her. Other than the sounds the demons made, the trip was mostly silent. I was relieved once I saw stairs in the distance. As we approached, the sounds of swords and fire could be heard.

"We're getting close to the rift!" Cassandra said, increasing her pace to climb the stairs faster, "You can hear the fighting!"

Once we reached the top of the stairs, Cassandra charged forward and hopped down to join the fight. Out of habit, I did the same, before remembering that I had no proper way to fight back. This became clear when one of the attacking shades looked in my direction, and moved quickly towards me, it's monstrous hiss becoming an otherworldly roar as it readied it's claws to strike.

Panicking, I tried swinging at it with the staff, but it just ducked under the swing, it's head smashing into my gut, sending me sprawling on the ground, gasping for breath. As the demon raised it's claws above it's head, I shut my eyes tight, unable to do anything else.

Then I heard a _**thud**_ , before hearing a loud screeching noise. Opening my eyes, I saw the shade sinking into the ground, until the only thing left was a crossbow bolt, lying on the ground.

"You alright down there?" Said a familiar voice, low and friendly.

Looking up, I saw Varric standing above me, one hand holding onto his crossbow, Bianca, the other being held out to help me stand. I nodded shakily, before taking his hand and standing, taking a moment to steady my breathing.

Before I could properly look back towards the rift, I felt another hand grab my wrist, ushering me towards the rift. Taking a quick glimpse, I recognized that it was Solas. A wave of emotions flooded through me, but I didn't have the chance right now to express any of them.

"Quickly, before more come through!" He yelled.

Holding my hand out to the rift, I felt the surge of energy again, though it wasn't as painful as before. The same crackling green energy flowed through my left palm, but this time it stretched out to connect with the rift. Gradually, it became smaller and smaller, before vanishing in a flash of green light. I sighed in relief, thankful that I was still able to close the rifts.

"Oh _man_ , I'm so grateful that worked." I exclaimed.

"I had a feeling it might," Solas said, a small smile on his face, "Though the credit for closing the rift is yours."

"You mean the mark, since it's pretty much like a key, and the Fade's the door." I blurted out, silently cursing myself afterwards.

"I... yes. You catch on quickly." He said, eyes widened in shock.

"If that's true, could it be used to close the Breach?" Cassandra asked, saving me from having to explain myself.

"If I am correct." Was all Solas said in response, looking at me with an expression I couldn't really read.

"Well, good to know!" Varric said, readjusting his gloves, "And here I thought we'd be ass deep in demons forever."

Walking up to me, he grinned confidently, "Varric Tethras: Rogue, storyteller, and occasionally, unwelcome tag along."

"N-Nice to meet you, Varric. And... thank you for saving me."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Staffy." Varric replied. I decided that later I'd have to see if he could avoid calling me that.

"If there are to be introductions, then my name is Solas. I am pleased to see you still live."

"T-Then... thank you, too." I mumbled, a mixture of fear and confusion flowing through me.

Solas noticed my hesitance, but before he could say anything, Cassandra spoke again.

"We don't have time for this, we need to make our way to Leliana and the others, _now!_ " She shouted, following a trail that lead down the other side of the hill. Solas nodded, before jogging over to follow her. Varric moved forward, turning around to face me.

"Well... Bianca's excited!" He said, before turning back around to catch up with the other two.

* * *

I wasn't of much use during the trek to the forward camp. It had already been established that I couldn't fight, so the others had to take care of the demons without me. Once we arrived at the gates, Varric, Solas, and Cassandra all fought with the soldiers to take care of the demons that had come through the rift. Once the last demon sank into the ground, I closed the rift, the pain it caused becoming less and less extreme, thankfully.

As we all walked through the gates, Leliana spotted us, and so did the man beside her, Chancellor Roderick.

"Ah, here they come." He said, his eyes fixed angrily on me.

"You made it." Leliana said, "Chancellor Roderick, this is-"

"I _know_ who he is." He growled, "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux, to face execution."

"Order _me?_ " Cassandra exclaimed, "You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!"

"And _you_ are a thug, but a thug that supposedly serves the Chantry!"

"We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor," Leliana snapped, before looking directly at Cassandra, "As you well know."

"Justinia is _dead_! We must elect a replacement, and obey _her_ orders on the matter!"

"Uh, excuse me," I began, "But we need to stop the Breach, right now. E-Electing a new Divine would take too much time."

"The only reason we _have_ to elect a new Divine is because of you! You opened that... _thing_ in the first place!"

Before I could even think of yelling at him, Cassandra stepped forward, approaching the table that Roderick stood at the other side of.

"Call a retreat, Seeker." He said hopelessly, suddenly much more exhausted than he had seemed to be, "Our position here is hopeless."

"We can stop this before it's too late." She said, her voice full of confidence and determination.

"How? You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even _with_ all your soldiers."

"We _must_ get to the temple, it's the quickest route."

"But not the safest," Leliana interrupted, "Our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains."

Cassandra shook her head, "We lost contact with an entire _squad_ on that path, it's too risky."

"Listen to me." Roderick begged, "Abandon this now, before more lives are lost!"

Suddenly a pulse came from the Breach, causing the Mark on my hand to flare up again, the pain once again burning hot. I bit back a cry of pain, tears threatening to form if this kept happening. When it finally stopped, all eyes were one me.

"How do _you_ think we should proceed?" Cassandra asked me.

I knew it was coming, but it still shocked me.

"Why are you trusting _me_ with this choice?"

"You bear the mark." Solas stated.

"And you're the one we must keep alive." Cassandra added, "Since none of us can agree on our own, you should have a say in what we do."

I thought on that for a while. Playing the game, I would have done either one, since it didn't really matter unless you wanted someone's approval. But knowing this is all real... people are going to _die_ , whichever choice I make. Taking a few moments to debate this in my head, I finally came to a decision.

"We'll all charge with the soldiers. It's the best way to get to the temple. But," I added, hoping I wouldn't regret the choice later, "If you can, send soldiers to go check on the scouts. If they're in trouble, try to help them get away."

Everyone nodded, seemingly content to follow through on my decision. Before we left, Cassandra approached Leliana.

"Bring everyone left in the valley. _Everyone_." She said, before following Varric, Solas and I to meet with the soldiers.

"On your head be the consequences, Seeker." Roderick said.

But the closer we got to the Temple, the more I knew that while he had been speaking to Cassandra, whatever happens next will be my fault, for better or for worse.

* * *

As we approached the rift just outside of the Temple, everyone else moved in front of me, joining the others in defeating the demons. Varric and Solas had pretty much realized I didn't know how to fight the second they saw me, so they both joined Cassandra in making sure I didn't get myself killed. After the demons had all been beaten back into the Fade, I closed the rift to prevent them from coming back. Solas approached me, observing my hand like he was wondering if something else would happen.

"Another rift sealed. You are becoming quite proficient at this."

"Let's hope it works on the big one." Varric said, looking towards the Breach anxiously.

I look towards Cassandra, and notice that Cullen is approaching her, obviously relieved that the rift is gone.

"Lady Cassandra, you sealed the rift! Well done." He said.

Cassandra gestured towards me, "Do not congratulate me, Commander. This is the prisoner's doing."

"Is it?" He asked, looking towards me now. "I hope they're right about you. We lost a lot of people getting you here."

I felt my stomach turn, being reminded of this. Hopefully at least the soldiers going to look for the scouts were all right.

"I'll... I'll do everything I can to stop this, I swear." I stammered out, hoping that I lived through this all.

"That's all we can ask of you." Cullen replied, before turning back to Cassandra. "The way to the temple should be clear. Leliana will try to meet you there."

"Then we'd best move quickly. Give us time, Commander." Cassandra said.

"Maker watch over you," Cullen said, looking me dead in the eyes, "For all our sakes."

With that final comment, he rushed off to join the soldiers, helping one of them walk due to an injury they'd sustained in the fight. A pang of guilt shot through me one last time, before I turned to enter the temple with the others.

I felt sick as we made our way down to the temple. So many people were all here, actually here, and in an instant...

Approaching a balcony, I finally saw the Breach rift, bigger than any of the others. The thing that likely destroyed the temple, when it opened.

"You're here!" Leliana said, relief clear in her voice, "Thank the Maker!"

"Leliana, have your men take up positions around the temple." Cassandra ordered. Leliana nodded, before leading her archers to surround the area. Then Cassandra turned to me, "This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "Just get me in c-close enough, and I'll do what I can."

"If you can seal this rift, you may be able to seal the Breach." Solas said, which did little to calm me down.

"Then let's find a way down," Cassandra said, "And be careful."

We'd made it halfway down before we finally heard a voice speaking. Feeling my body shake with dread, I knew instantly that Corypheus was the one speaking.

"Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice." He said, his voice low and void of any remorse.

The others were wondering who the voice was, but I just kept walking forward, knowing that if I stopped, I'll lose my nerve. The only thing that really shook me is when I heard _my_ voice once we'd reached ground level, confirming that I didn't just get the mark randomly.

"What's going on here?!" I heard myself cry. I could hear the fear in my own voice, and I soon saw it once a version of me appeared, standing upright and looking right at Corypheus' shadow.

"Run while you can! Warn them!" Justinia yelled, her face twisted in pain.

"We have an intruder," Corypheus said, his voice showing that he didn't think much of my intrusion. "Kill him, now."

Before any of us could see what happened next, the memory faded away.

"Corypheus..." I whispered to myself, my body shaking from pure fright.

I realized that I must not have been very quiet when I mentioned his name, as soon I heard Varric speak up, having faced the ancient Darkspawn before.

"Wait, Corypheus?!" He exclaimed, eyes wide open. "No, that can't be true, Hawke and I killed him!"

"You've dealt with this thing before, Varric?" Cassandra asked, surprised.

"Yeah, me and Hawke fought him together!" Varric turned towards me, "How did you know who he was?"

Before I could answer, another pulse of green light came from the Breach rift, causing me to cry out in sheer agony. Being this close to it when it does that will kill me if we don't hurry up. With that in mind, I scrambled to my feet, my breathing ragged, and tired.

"I-I'll tell you everything I know, later, I swear! But right now we have to close the Breach!"

"I agree, there will be time for questions later!" Solas said, turning to face me, "The rift is sealed, but not closed. With the mark you may be able to open the rift, and then seal it properly. However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side."

Cassandra looked up at the scouts, "That means demons! Stand ready!"

Once the archers all had arrows aimed towards the rift, Cassandra nodded towards me. Taking a deep breath, I raised the mark to the rift, and felt a painful stinging feeling around my hand. Crackling green energy seemed to grab onto different pieces of the rift and move. A pulse of green light flashed down, and the rift burst open. I'd been preparing myself for what came next, but I felt my blood run cold, regardless.

Stepping out of the fade, a twenty foot tall pride demon walked towards us all, albino skin covered in protective plating, and large, menacing horns jutting from the top of it's head. As the archers fired their arrows and watched as they bounced harmlessly off of the demon's flesh, it let out a sickly, gleeful laugh, like it was going to take joy from what happened next.

Standing behind the others, I tried focusing on interrupting the rift's connection. Unlike when I closed the rifts, disrupting them required me to strain my entire body, a burning feeling flaring up where the mark was. I could barely feel the tears running down my face once I finally disrupted the rift successfully, but as I watched the fight continue, I saw that none of the arrows had pierced the pride demon's armored skin. I was about to collapse from the hopelessness of it all, until an arrow connected with one of the demon's eyes, causing it to cry out in pain. I didn't know if the archer that fired the arrow had done it purposefully or not, but regardless it gave me an idea of how the others could kill the demon.

"The eyes!" I croaked, my voice only barely reaching Varric, Solas and Cassandra, "Aim for it's eyes...!"

A moment passed, before I saw Varric load his crossbow and fire a bolt, hitting the pride demon in one of it's six eyes. Roaring in pain, it clawed at it's eyes, before turning to look directly at the dwarf. Before it could advance, however, Cassandra cried out.

"Archers! Aim for the demon's eyes! Blind it, and we will win this!"

Moments later a hail of arrows sail towards the demon's face, rendering it blind as it bellowed and roared, unable to see where it's opponents were. Cassandra, fueled by both rage and steely determination, charged forward, climbing the demon's back until she stood on it's head. Raising her sword high, she yelled defiantly as she plunged her sword down towards the pride demons skull.

And with that, the beast crashed to the ground, before it's energy was pulled back into the fade rift. I stared in awe for a moment, before I heard Cassandra yell to me.

"Seal the rift, Garrius, now!"

Giving her a quick nod, I took a moment to steady myself, before raising my hand and feeling the mark connect with the rift from the Breach. As I tried to close it, I felt myself drained of any remaining energy I had left. My vision became shakier, and I felt myself slipping in and out of consciousness.

The last thing I remember before passing out is a blinding flash of light, then darkness.


End file.
